Attendance

Attendance Letter

Dear Parents/Guardians:

In an effort to stress the importance of daily school attendance to your child’s success, we are sending this letter as a reminder of California Education Law 48200 that requires compulsory daily attendance for students 6-18 years of age. Parents/guardians that choose to enroll their children in Kindergarten are subject to this Education Code Law as well.

Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District (LVJUSD) is committed to ensuring academic excellence for all our students. Maximizing our children’s achievement must begin with daily school attendance and we feel with everyone working together we can create that success. It is vital for the LVJUSD to build on a shared value of education by maintaining the essential partnership between school and home to ensure daily attendance. If your child is absent, California Education Code allows EXCUSED absence for the following:

The parent/guardian of the student must send a note and/or phone the school to clear any of the above listed excused absences. Failure to excuse the absence will result in a recorded truancy on the student’s permanent record. Please remember all absences and tardies must be cleared within 72 hours of the occurrence.

Another way to support your child’s daily attendance is by reviewing the school District calendar to plan family vacations to coincide with school breaks. Parent notification to the school of a student’s absence for an unexcused reason will result in the loss of instructional time, and parents will be notified of truancy violations as determined by California Ed Code 48200. Examples of reasons that are NOT EXCUSED are:

Visiting Relatives Student’s Birthday Oversleeping

Car Trouble Childcare by student at home Vacations

Family moving from one home to another

School staff may request your attendance at a conference when your child is absent from school for reasons that are not excused. The District sends notification to parents/guardians of students who accumulate three or more days of unexcused absences and/or tardies and/or an excessive number of excused absences. That letter will inform the family of potential declaration of truancy on your child’s school record according to Education Codes 48260 and 48263.6.

Please review this attendance information with your child and take the necessary measures to ensure your child’s success. We appreciate your assistance in making school attendance a priority.

Thank you for your support,

Scott Vernoy

Director of Student Services

Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District

Attendance Hotline 606-4812, ext. 2333

Regular attendance and school work are necessary for students to benefit from their educational experience. Students with poor attendance generally have poor achievement and grades. Students are expected to be in class, on time, daily. Students with unexcused absences or tardies lose extra curricular privileges and must make up time missed. The State of California and the Livermore School District (http://www.livermoreschools.com) do not provide for any tardy to be excused. Parents are required to be involved in student intervention for poor attendance.

To excuse an absence, a student must, within three school days of an absence, bring a note, signed by a parent, to the Attendance Office, stating the dates absent, and the reason for the absence (student's and parent's last name must be on the note). Parents may also call (925) 606-4812, ext. 2333 to excuse absences giving the same information. The Attendance Office staff will notify teachers of excused absences. Excused absences shall be for illness, medical appointments, funerals, quarantine, jury duty, court appearance, observance of religious holiday, attending a religious retreat, caretaking of a pupil's sick child, and employment conferences. Family trips, vacations, babysitting, and other personal business are not excused absences.

In order to attend dances, students may have no more than three unexcused absences within the announced time period before a dance.

Absences not cleared within three school days automatically become unexcused absences, or cuts. Students absent without a valid excuse for more than three days in one school year are classified as truant. Students who are more than 30 minutes tardy on three or more school days in more than one school year without a valid reason are also classified as truant.

Students needing to leave campus during the school day must sign out through the Attendance Office with a parent note or phone call in order for the absence to be excused. FAILURE TO SIGN OUT MAKES AN ABSENCE UNEXCUSED!

Unexcused Absence Policy

School District policy permits teachers to lower a grade by 1/3 for each unexcused absence. This means that three unexcused absences can result in a student's grade dropping one full grade. Attendance and success in school go hand in hand. Parents are asked to work closely with their students to insure success in school.

Leaving Campus

Livermore High School is a closed campus. This means that students may not leave campus during the school day unless

1) they have been signed out at the Attendance Office

or

2) they are a senior with privileges to leave campus during lunchtime

Seniors will have this privilege depending on their prior reporting period grades and it may be revoked due to disciplinary, grades, attendance issues, and/or moving violations received while off campus during lunchtime. Students who leave without signing out and miss classes will be marked cut--even if they leave for legitimate reasons (e.g., a doctor's appointment).

Tardies

Students are required to be in class when the bell rings. If the student is not, then a tardy is recorded in the attendance system. If you are more than 30 minutes late to a class, you will be given an unexcused absence. Teachers may establish their own attendance policies, and have the right to lower the students grade for each tardy.